Saturday, March 06, 2010

In our judiciary, anybody can be bought, says Gujarat CJ

AHMEDABAD: Chief Justice S J Mukhopadhyay expressed concern over thefuture of Gujarat judiciary when hearing the case of termination of adhoc fast-track court judges. The high court and the state government discontinued services of 56 judges last November.

Discussing charges of corruption in cases of some of judicial officerson Friday, Justice Mukhopadhaya said: "We are concerned about thefuture of Gujarat judiciary, where money has become the main source and where you can buy anybody with the power of money."

Justice Mukhopadhyay insisted on maintaining transparency in judiciaryin order to uphold its credibility among people. He asked the lawyersrepresenting the FCT judges how else the high court could have reacted to allegations of corruption levelled against the judicial officers.

The FCT judges were relieved from service last year with a remark intheir termination letter that they were found 'unsuitable'.

The judge was of the opinion that issuance of a show-cause notice tothe judges concerned would have served no purpose. He also made itclear that he was discussing the issue in the context of the judiciaryacross the nation, and not strictly pertaining to Gujarat.